


Switch

by woollen_pharaohs



Category: Raised by Wolves (TV 2020)
Genre: Backstory, Character Study, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26459380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woollen_pharaohs/pseuds/woollen_pharaohs
Summary: It's not the first time that Sue has had to change her name. 'Sue' isn't exactly the prettiest name, and she may not like Sue's face or voice or body as much as her own, but she has to take it on to survive.
Relationships: Sue/Marcus
Kudos: 9





	Switch

**Author's Note:**

> Ridley Scott really likes to do the whole "I'm a woman but I'm barren therefore I am a broken woman and forever at the mercy of the man I love" trope so here's my little twist on that with Sue except she's not broken she's trans and that's that on that.
> 
> FYI the names Mary/Sue and Caleb/Marcus are used interchangeably.

"I want you to call me by my real name when we're together, when we're alone," Mary tells Caleb. 

He looks at her blankly. "What do you mean?" 

Caleb continues to stare at her with those new blue eyes of Marcus' that seem to be hollow and absent of all of the fire and terror of the war that they experienced back home. For a moment, it's like he doesn't remember. Has 12 years of being Marcus in the sim on the way to Keppler-22b really made Marcus forget who he really is? Would she accept that? He did for her, but this is different. Neither of them wanted to be who they are now. Caleb has to still be in there. And then there's the typical Caleb wink and Mary realises that he's fucking with her. 

"You asshole, Caleb," she grins, shoving her husband at the same time as wanting to climb into his arms. 

It's funny to think of Marcus as her husband, as Sue's husband. They've been together since they were 16 but getting married was never something they were interested in, or even capable of doing. Marriage was for the faithful. And the faithless had a war to fight. 

"Mary..." Caleb had said for the first time, rolling it around on his tongue like a lump of sugar. "Mary, I like it."

Mary beamed. She was so happy that he had taken the news so well. The smile stayed on her face when Caleb started grinning too. 

"After your sister?" Caleb asked. He hugged her close, pressed a kiss onto the crown of her head. 

Mary spoke against Caleb's chest, overwhelmed with happiness, and pride for the journey ahead of her. "Yes. She couldn't live it, so I'll live it for the both of us."

Caleb knew what she had lost. Her sister and parents, all the family she had ever known to the war. His family were the men and women and children, raised from birth to fight. But he knew her loss as his loss. All were his family; soldiers who died trying to protect what little they had. They found each other inexplicably tied up in that mess and haven't been apart since. Every day, Mary would fall in love with Caleb more and more. And every day after admitting to Caleb who she really was, who she wanted to be, she loved him so completely, so eternally, and so full of gratitude for the lengths he would go for her. 

"Next!" Ordered the guard in front of the makeshift surgeon's tent. 

She had been looking forward to this day for as long as she knew it was possible, maybe longer, longing for the impossible. She had heard legends about transitioning medication and surgeries that could be done in the religious districts. They never had access to the technology or the medicine to proceed with such a surgery, and even if they did, Mary, being a doctor, knew that she would not be first in line. She knew that someone as healthy and able bodied as her would never even be considered a top or even top 1000 candidate to have sex reassignment surgery. But during wartime, opportunities come when you least expect it. 

"You can still walk away if you want to," Caleb said, clutching Mary's trembling hand. "I'll love you no matter what." 

Mary squeezed Caleb's hand back, thanking no one in particular that she has Caleb's support and love. 

"It's okay, I really want to do this."

"The android is on their side, we may not be able to trust that they won't fuck you up."

"Next!!" The guard shouted in irritation. 

Mary turned to Caleb. "I don't know if I'll ever have the opportunity to do this again. I Have to try. I have to..." 

And if it didn't work out, if she had wasted all of their savings on a surgery that makes her deformed or broken or into a cyborg, at least she tried. 

She looked up into the dirty mirror at her new face. At Sue's face. Small and angled, dirty thick hair that's shaved around her ears. She cried. 

All those years ago she had a miracle happen to her. They aren't supposed to call anything a miracle but she doesn't know what else to call it. The surgery had been successful. She had been able to become the woman she had always wanted to be. Even her tits were the size she described to the surgeon. She was beautiful. Now... 

"I hate it," she said to Caleb when he walked in to peel away his own medical tape. 

She didn't like to compare getting used to Marcus to Caleb getting used to Mary, though the similarities were there. New name, new face, new voice to remember to listen out for. But the differences were important. Very important. Neither Mary or Caleb really wanted to change what they looked like or who they were, how they presented to the world. Mary did not want to be Sue. She still doesn't want to be. She isn't sure if Caleb even really thought about the ramifications of becoming Marcus. If only they knew more. If only they knew Marcus was a Captain, maybe... But no, they had to do what they had to do. And at least they're still together. She survived the crash of the Ark and the necromancer didn't kill Marcus. They still have each other. They just don't have Paul, who, in the end, was the one who made her start to love being Sue. 

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I just watched s01e05 and I'll be so mad if they kill Sue off and/or make Marcus cheat I'll truly be livid. 
> 
> p.s. absolutely zero offence meant towards niamh algar i think she is extremely hot


End file.
